July 19, 2021
July 19, 2021
As a parent, you want what is best for your child. That includes keeping them safe and happy, but it also includes teaching them a variety of important concepts – such as empathy. Empathy is a vital tool for any child to have. It enables them to build connections with others, inspires them to be helpful in their behaviors, and helps them keep tabs on their own emotions.
So how do you foster empathy in children? There are many ways, and one is through healthy debate. Here’s what you need to know about how healthy debate skills can be taught and how teachers can use this approach in the classroom to teach children important lessons surrounding empathy.
What Is Empathy?
Empathy makes it possible for a person to understand the feelings of others. It also helps people to recognize the emotions others are experiencing and understand where they’re coming from. Ever heard the expression “walk a mile in their shoes”? Well, that’s empathy.
The Importance of Empathy in Child Development
It can be a challenge to help a child understand empathy as a concept, but that doesn’t mean it should be ignored. Researchers have found that empathy helps to promote cooperative and social behaviors that children can use to succeed in life, from their interpersonal relationships to their chosen careers. It also helps to lower their aggression and prepare for the issues they may encounter in life.
There’s no doubt about it: empathy is an essential tool in every child’s emotional toolbox.
What Does Fostering Empathy Mean?
As a parent or an educator, fostering empathy in children is important. So how do you do it? For many people it comes naturally, but if you want to make sure you’re teaching this very important skill, most importantly you need to let a child learn to self-soothe and rebound from their own negative emotions. One of the crucial aspects of empathy is the ability for someone to regulate their own emotions. You don’t want a child to be overwhelmed by their feelings. You can help with this by putting your own empathy skills to use.
Empathize with a child when they’re going through an emotional experience. Permit them to feel whatever way it is they feel and encourage them to own it rather than putting it on someone else. Support them and let them know they’ll get through this and that you’re right there with them. This can help to provide a comfortable and safe place for them to experience their emotions, which will eventually translate into building trust in themselves to regulate their emotions out in the world.
You can also help a child to understand what they have in common with other people. It’s no shock to find out that most people have an easier time feeling empathy toward those who are more like them, so it’s good to point out that those who may be different have some things in common with your child. This can help to humanize people who aren’t similar and will give your child a great capacity to empathize with everyone.
Finally, help your child to explore other perspectives. Television characters are great for this since they can help children to understand different ways of thinking. Ask them questions about the character, such as what they think it would be like to be that character, so they can put themselves in another’s shoes. This helps encourage empathy even in very young children and is a great tool for teaching.
How Healthy Debate Can Foster Empathy In Your Children
Another important tool that can be used in the home setting or the classroom is healthy debate. But what is “healthy debate”, exactly? A healthy debate is when people disagree about an idea or perspective, but ask each other meaningful questions and engage in conversation without taking it personally. Basically, it’s challenging one another on an intellectual level with open communication and respect.
Healthy debate is a great tool for building empathy because it helps people to reach out to those who aren’t like them and encourages the sharing of ideas and perspectives.
How Do You Foster Empathy in the Classroom?
There are many ways to foster empathy in the classroom, and one of those ways is by encouraging healthy debate! Teachers are in a unique position to help their students to engage in healthy discourse, which is a skill that will serve them well in life. It also helps them to exercise those empathy muscles.
You can encourage healthy debate in the classroom by:
Empathy is one of the best skills a person can possess. There are many ways to foster empathy, but chances are that if you show compassion and empathy to children in your life, they’ll pick it up through your good example.
Featured image by Aaron Blanco Tejedor on Unsplash